What I Like About You
by lizbennett
Summary: James already knows what Lily 'hates' about him...but what does she like about him? And vice versa?


A.N.This plot bunny came to me in a vision I had. And no, I do not own this fantastic Harry Potter series. I can only write pathetic attemptsat fanfiction. Enjoy! BTW, this is the first fanfic I've posted on here that is not rated M. Shock ensues.

What I Like About You

"Lily?"

"Yes, James?" his girlfriend greeted him as he entered the Gryffindor common area and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Lily," he repeated her name as he kissed her tenderly on the lips. "Tell me what you like about me."

"What I like about you?"

"Yes," James answered as his lips touched her cheek, and trailed down to her neck.

Lily sighed, but whether it was because James's question annoyed her, or because she was enthralled with his kisses was unknown.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked him as she started to kiss him in return.

"Well…" James's response was prolonged a bit because Lily's kiss was rather distracting for him to focus his attention on two things at once.

"Because I already know what you hate about me," he finally replied once their kiss ended.

"I don't hate…" Lily began to say but James shook his head.

"I meant, I already know what you dislike, er, what irritates you about me."

"Oh…of course."

"I think everyone does," James said, somewhat remorsefully. "But even I don't know what's endeared me to you."

"Endeared you?"

"Yeah…why you're with me after all these years of telling me what a…"

"Rude, thoughtless, conceited prat you are?"

"Exactly."

"Let me think…" Lily said as she smirked at James's hopeful expression on his face.

"Well…first of all…" she could hardly say it without giggling. "You are a rather good kisser."

James's hopeful smile turned rather cocky after her admittance.

"Anything else?" he asked her, his ego soaring rather rapidly as he leaned back in the couch and let Lily rest her cheek on his shoulder.

"Well…" Lily's smile turned cheeky. "You have very nice shoulders. I've always preferred broad, defined shoulders on a man."

James silently thanked the gods that bestowed on him broad shoulders.

"And your eyes are…"

"Hazel," James finished for her.

"I was going to say…thoughtful," Lily corrected.

"Thoughtful?'

"Yes…forgive me for the cliché, but…your eyes are truly the windows to your soul."

"What does that mean?" James asked, unfamiliar with the common muggle expression.

"It means…whatever you're thinking…shows up in your eyes. I can just tell by looking in them whether you're up to mischief, or whether you're sorry for something you said or did, or whether you're excited…that look especially is in your face when you're playing Quidditch, or whether you're happy to see me."

"Which is all the time," James told her.

Lily smiled sweetly. "And it's very helpful, because I can tell whether you're lying or exaggerating simply by the expression in your eyes. You really are an open book, James."

"And that's a good thing because…"

Lily giggled again. "Because it lets me know what your true feelings are. You can't ever hide anything from me, and that's a relief."

"Oh."

"I guess you could say it was your eyes that helped me fall in love with you."

"Really?" James's expression brightened, pleased that he finally heard something complimentary about his eyes.

"Yes…remember when I asked you if it was true about your saving Snape from Remus's transformation in the Shrieking Shack?"

James nodded, unsure as to where the conversation was going.

"And you told me it was true, and your eyes looked sad and worried and guilty all at once, and I started…worrying about you…because I realized how much pressure you had put on yourself, what with befriending Remus in spite of his…'furry little problem', and how much you trusted your friends. And it showed me how mature you were becoming, and that…made me respect you."

"Really?" James asked her. "You actually respect me?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Lily asked him, amused at his reaction.

"Somewhat. I mean…we're talking about me, right? The head Prankster of the Marauders?"

"I think Sirius is the head prankster, and even though you're a Marauder, you are worthy of some respect," Lily could barely finish her sentence without laughing, and James felt a sudden urge to throw a pillow at her. Somehow, he managed to control the urge and prod her to continue.

"Anything else?"

"You aren't too tall or too short, and that's suitable so I can wear heels and not worry about over-towering you and you don't have to bend over too much to kiss me."

"I don't mind bending over to kiss you," James told her, a bit proud that he could carry his girlfriend around if he wanted to and be able to look her straight in the eye when he was arguing with her…usually for when she was chatting with some strange bloke he didn't trust.

"I like your voice as well," Lily added.

"Why?" James asked.

"Remember when you first asked me out, back in 3rd year?" Lily told him.

"Yes." How could he forget? It was the first day he had noticed that hidden within Lily's robes was a rather nice pair of…bosoms that he found himself staring at admirably whenever she was near.

"Well…" Lily found it hard to keep herself from giggling. "Your voice cracked so high it sounded as though you had inhaled helium."

James's face turned beet red, and he frowned, most displeased with Lily's remembrance of that particular detail which he had thought for sure she had forgotten. Of all the Marauders, James's voice, unfortunately, took the longest time to mature. His friends still found it amusing to tease him about it, much to his dismay.

"And that's a good thing because…?"

"Because it showed how much I made you nervous," Lily smiled pertly at him.

James's face turned redder. "You did not!" he tried to protest, but Lily rolled her eyes. "I did too…and that was rather…flattering. Of course, I didn't think so at the time, I knew the only reason you spoke to me to start with was because you were rather enamored with my…bosom…but now that I look back on it…it was rather sweet for you to feel so shy and yet so determined to ask me out…for two straight years."

"Two years, five months, three weeks, four days, and one hour," James said, smirking as Lily's eyebrows rose at his preciseness.

"Yes, well, you certainly were persistent," Lily admitted.

"And look where it got me," James pointed at her.

Lily snorted at his statement, but then he went back to what he was doing earlier…and she conveniently (for James) forgot to be mad at him.

"And…" Lily hesitated to tell him this last part.

"And what?" James asked her, thrilled that there was so much to like about him.

"I like your hair," Lily finally admitted.

It was James's turn to his eyebrows to lift in surprise. "You do?" he asked as he unconsciously ruffled his already intensely messy hair.

Lily blushed a bit. "Well…" she said as she helped him comb it back a bit with her fingers, "It's not because I like messy hair…but…it says a lot about your character."

"It does?"

"Well…it's already messy from your playing Quidditch, so that shows you're determined to play well to win, and loyal to your team, and a good player. And it definitely reveals your mischievous side which I'm sure by now everyone knows about, because that coupled with your eyes makes for a very…scruffy person."

"Scruffy?" James yelped in dismay. "That's Sirius's trait, not mine!"

"Oh trust me, it's yours as well," Lily told him. "And it's rather…" she hated to say this last part, but she had been telling him the truth so far, "it's rather…sexy."

"Oh really?" James could not resist raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Well…yes."

"And you like that?"

Lily bit her lip to keep from groaning, even though she knew she was at fault for admitting it. "Yes, very much."

"Aha!" James jumped up in the sofa and pumped his arms up in victory. "I'm sexy! Lily finally admits it!" He crowed loudly, causing Lily to be torn between wanting to hide herself from embarrassment or shove him off the sofa to shut him up.

"Not that sexy!" she protested, but it was too late to quench James's cocky reaction. He finally sat back down on the sofa, staring directly at Lily, still with that cocky smile that made Lily want to slug him.

"Well, I now know that I'm sexy with my hazel eyes and my scruffy hair and my broad shoulders and my perfect height and great kisses and my helium-inflated voice," he teased her. "Anything else you want to compliment about me?"

"No, that was it," Lily assured him, gritting her teeth in the process. Then a sudden inspiration came to her.

"Now it's your turn," she told him.

"My turn for what?" James asked her, confused.

"Your turn to tell me what you like about me. You've heard enough compliments to last you a lifetime."

"Oh, these will certainly last the rest of my life," James assured her. "Let's see…don't you already know what I like about you?"

"No, you never mentioned it. In fact, you never told me why you kept asking me out in the first place," Lily reminded him.

"Well…let's see…" James mused, stroking his chin with his fingers in intense contemplation, making Lily roll her eyes at his pretentious expression.

"I've got it," he snapped his fingers.

"Well?"

"You're an incredible kisser," James told her.

"You're copying me!"

"No I'm not! You said I was a 'rather good kisser' not an 'incredible kisser'. I think it's because you have such full lips…and they're so delectable to taste."

"Fine, I can accept that," Lily sighed, her face reddening.

Silence ensued as James took his time to ponder more reasons he liked Lily. In truth, he already knew everything about Lily that he liked, but he enjoyed making her irritated with him.

"Is that all?" she finally asked, her patience waning very thin.

"No…you also feel great in my arms."

"Huh?"

"When we're making out passionately on the sofa…or behind Honeydukes…or anywhere really…and you press against me when you're letting me know you want tongue…"

"James," Lily said in her warning tone.

"It just feels right…your body against mine…because you're so soft, and I could hold you for hours without complaint."

"Oh," Lily blushed deeply at the rather erotic compliment.

"Also, you probably already know this, but you're the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts."

"James…you're letting your love for me blind you."

"No I'm not! You seriously are beautiful. I actually thought that when I first laid eyes on you in 1st year when we arrived at Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat put us in our Houses. I still remember when it called your name and you sat down in the stool in front of everyone. Your hair was longer then, down to your waist, and it was just as red, just as silky…and with your green eyes…I think the candlelight made them glitter…you just looked like a princess…of course I was only 12 then, and I was supposed to hate girls, but I knew then that when I got out of my 'hating girls' phase, that you'd be the first to consider marr…I mean…asking out."

Lily's face now matched the color of her hair. "James…that was the most romantic thing you've ever said to me." Her eyes were threatening to spill tears, and she held up a hand to prevent them from spilling.

James smiled sweetly at her. "I meant it. And I didn't mention your perfect ivory skin…it still irks me how I get acne and you've never had a spot in your life."

"I do…they just aren't that noticeable…and I use this special cream for witches called "Acne Demolisher" whenever I get them," Lily confessed.

"I also love how your eyes glow when you're angry at me…they're so full of life and passion…it really turns me on."

Lily rolled her eyes, but James wasn't finished.

"And I also love how they glow when you're happy, but especially when I'm kissing you, because they look so soft and content and that just makes me want to kiss you even more."

The redness on Lily's cheeks intensified, if that was possible at this point. "Don't you think you're overdoing it on the compliments?" she asked him.

James shook his head. "You asked me to tell you what I like about you, and this is seven years' worth of information that I've had to store inside until now."

It was then that Lily felt incredible guilt for not noticing how much James cared for her until just last year when she finally went out with him. She had spent too much time berating herself for how embarrassing it would be to finally date a guy who she had turned down for ages to realize how lucky she was to have such a caring boyfriend.

"Did I mention how I love your voice?"

"Copying me again?" Lily teased him, but James shook his head.

"Unlike your appreciation of my helium-inflated tone, I deeply admire your rich voice, whether you're chastising me for passing notes with Sirius in class, or moaning out my name when we're making out, it just causes little electrical tingles to shoot up my spine."

"It sounds as if you're been reading my romance novels again," Lily told him, her eyes narrowing in disgust.

James frowned at her. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I have a talent for articulating how I feel?"

"No, actually it didn't."

"Well…sit there and let me finish, then."

Lily took a deep breath and kept quiet, wondering if it was possible that James has such a vivid way of expressing himself.

"Just to anger you for that comment, I'm going to add that not only do I like the feel of you in my arms, I also like certain…parts of you that bump up against me whenever we're in a deep embrace."

Lily knew she probably deserved that, but still…it was rather rude of him to admit. "Does that turn you on?"

"Oh, more than you could possibly imagine," James smirked.

"I also like your competitive nature."

"I don't have a competitive nature!" Lily protested.

"Yes, you do. Remember 5th year during our O.W.L.s, and you and I were working on our practicals for Transfiguration at the exact same time? I still can't get over how determined you looked as you were trying to beat me at the speed of which we were supposed to turn flamingos into hatstands."

"First of all, they were llamas, not flamingos, and secondly…" Lily stopped as she realized the trap that James had placed her in, which caused him to laugh even harder.

"That just proved that I had an effect on you, probably more so than you realized, and that's why I continued to ask you out 6th year, because I realized there was still hope."

"Maybe I just happen to be a determined student," Lily insisted.

James shook his head. "You've always been incredibly smug in Charms…it's never been my best subject, and you know that. That's why you were so thrilled when, during O.W.L practical for Charms, I accidentally placed a Color Charm on the professor's eyebrows because my glasses were broken and I couldn't see properly."

Lily bit her lip to keep from giggling. It was true…she had been smug…because she couldn't forget that while they had been waiting for their turn, James had tried to place a prank on Snape and it had backfired, causing his glasses to break, and he had had no time to fix them because his name had been called for the practical. She couldn't help that her smugness had grown when she saw that James was having trouble, because he had rather deserved it. But that incident had occurred over two years ago, how could he have remembered?

"How do you know I was smug?" she asked him.

"Because I was having trouble focusing on my practicals while you were standing nearby," James sheepishly admitted.

Lily smiled, pleased that he had admitted his nervousness around her. It also pleased her that he had always been so determined to try to impress her, even though it was annoying at times.

"So far, you've mentioned my hair, my eyes, my skin, my body, and my competitiveness…"

"I was getting to your goodness, Lily flower."

"My goodness?"

"Yes. As much as it pains me to admit…the one flaw I thought you had the first five years of knowing you was that you were a…"

"Goody goody?" Lily finished for him.

James nodded. "I would have preferred that you were more mischievous like me. But alas, you turned out to be Ms. Perfect."

Lily bit her lip, unwilling to admit she had a rather imperfect nature when it came to her overbearing older sister who was rather unaccepting of her sister's talent.

"And thus, it infuriated me a bit to see you standing up for Snape in 5th year, because there I was trying to show off, and there you were…"

"Trying to tell you off?"

"Exactly."

"Well you weren't exactly…"

"Doing a swell job of showing off, I know. But it was Snape."

"Who was harmless."

"Was not. How can you forget what he called you?"

"It doesn't matter James. Snape is a bitter person, he always has been, and he probably always will be. Let's not discuss it any more."

"You do know that I can never forgive him for that…I can forgive him for being an evil git to us Marauders, but not to you."

"James…" Lily felt touched, as she had secretly when the event happened, that James was so protective and caring towards her. But it unfortunately wasn't wanted at the time.

"Now…where was I?"

"Talking about my so called 'goodness'," Lily teased.

"Ah…right. So I have to admit, this might disturb and anger you somewhat, but even though I felt it was a flaw of yours to be a goody goody, it certainly um…well…was a bit of an occasional…arousal."

"What?"

"Um…right…let's just say I'm a perverted prat that likes to imagine his girlfriend being dirty because she's so good. What can I say? It's a secret pleasure of mine."

"Not so secret anymore," Lily muttered, not sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed. She settled for a mixture of both. Then she felt she had to correct her boyfriend on his obvious misconceptions. "James?"

"Yes?" James asked her as he sat back down, a bit tired from expressing himself so passionately.

"Remember when you and Sirius thought that you had switched certain…um…body parts?"

"How did you know about that?" James's eyes goggled at her in shock.

"Well…because…I was in the Restricted Section…oh shut up James, let me explain before you jump to conclusions or tease me! I was only there because that awful Narcissa dared me to find a book about witches' sexual gratification or I'd have to confess I was a lesbian…anyway…while I was looking for the book…I found one that was entitled 'Spells to Reverse Genitalia', and decided to try it out…if only to practice my Transfiguring skills."

"You didn't..." James gasped, fear etched in his face as he started edging slowly away from Lily on the sofa.

"Yes. I decided to practice the hex on Amos because he had tried to grope me in the Great Hall once, but unfortunately you distracted me just as I was about to perform the spell, and so it backfired, and I _accidentally_ performed it on you and Sirius instead, because you had to ask me out for the millionth time, and Sirius had to stand behind you and smirk in amusement."

"Sirius and I thought that Snape had cast the spell on us…that was why he was so tempted to tell Snape to enter the Shrieking Shack!" James told her, his eyes still full of fear and amazement.

Lily blanched in shock, her red face turning completely white from mortification to horror. "Oh no! I didn't know…"

"No…it wasn't your fault, Lily. It was Sirius's and mine for reacting in a vengeful way. I didn't think you'd…well…I knew you were good at cursing me out…but not in that way!"

Lily's face regained its full color, and she took a deep breath to try to settle herself from the horrible fear that it was indirectly her fault that Snape had nearly gotten killed. "If I had known…"

"But you didn't! Oh Lily…I think I love you even more!" James exclaimed.

"What?" Now it was Lily's turn to edge away on the sofa.

"Don't you get it? All this time I thought your greatest flaw was that you were too perfect for me! Now I see that you have an entirely different flaw! An actual flaw! This just means one thing!"

"What is that?" Lily asked warily.

"That first of all, there's still hope for me…and secondly, that we're even more destined for each other than I previously thought."

"So the fact that I switched your manhood with Sirius's, thus causing you both to attempt vengeance on Snape and nearly getting him killed makes you love me even more?"

"Exactly! This is wonderful!" James cried out, leaping off the sofa and dancing around in glee.

Lily sighed as James leapt in joy. She decided she'd never understand boys, and hoped that when the time came, she'd have only girls.

"So far, I'm beautiful, competitive, and flawed. Is that all you have to say, Potter?"

"Not quite. I suppose this means that you're a better Prankster than any of the Marauders could ever hope to be."

"That's not necessarily a good thing," Lily argued.

"Oh, but it is! I think we need an induction ceremony, to welcome you as the first female into our former men only club. We'd be honored to have you join."

"I'm flattered by your offer, but no thanks," Lily rolled her eyes.

"So tell me, Lily."

"Yes, James?"

"What other pranks could you have possibly conjured up that you have yet to be discovered as the culprit?" he asked her silkily.

Lily raised an eyebrow slyly. "Well, James," she purred. "You tell me just how much more different your genitalia was from Sirius's, and I'll let you in on a little secret only we Gryffindor females know…"


End file.
